


I Know You Want Me (Let's Start Talking)

by postboxinheaven



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Baekhyun is a clown, Fluff, Humor, M/M, not really but figuratively
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-06 05:52:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14050341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/postboxinheaven/pseuds/postboxinheaven
Summary: Baekhyun has terrible ideas, but falling for Junmyeon isn’t one of them.





	I Know You Want Me (Let's Start Talking)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the BaekSuTheFuture exchange in 2015. Title was taken from the got7 song “A” (throwback), which can officially be considered the unofficial soundtrack of this fic. In other news, I forgot what high school was like even though I was only a year removed, so I tried my best to put this together with scraps of memories from my very forgettable and uneventful time in high school. Always thank you to my beta friends, I don't thank them enough.

“You need to be done,” Jongdae sighs exasperatedly. “Like right now.”

“What’s the harm in having some good fun?” Baekhyun whines. He looks around the lunch table only to find his friends staring him down with judgment.

“There’s a line between good fun and stupidity, you idiot,” Kyungsoo seethes. “And we know that you’ve crossed it because Zitao and his ninja friends look like they’re about to come over and murder you.”

“And us by extension,” Jongdae adds. “We’ll probably perish in the collateral damage.”

“It was just a harmless prank.” Baekhyun curls into himself. Nothing was scarier than an angry Kyungsoo. “I didn’t mean for anything to go wrong.”

“Baekhyun, your prank didn’t just go wrong. It went terribly wrong,” Kyungsoo rants. “Zitao’s dog had to be taken to the vet and the entire student body saw a video of the most badass kid in school crying like a baby.”

“I apologized though,” Baekhyun defends himself. “And paid the vet bill. Also, Coco is alive and well.”

“I wonder why,” Kyungsoo deadpans.

“Thank you to Kyungsoo, of course!” Baekhyun exclaims. “You and your car really saved my ass yesterday.”

Baekhyun waits, hoping that the flattery is enough to pacify Kyungsoo.

“Yeah, well if you fuck up like this again I’ll be kicking your ass instead.” Kyungsoo stares him down.

Apparently not.

“Anyways,” Jongdae continues. “Please lay low for a bit. Like completely low. Disappear into the ocean low.”

“I can’t go on a break, I’m the class clown,” Baekhyun protests. “People expect me to be entertaining at all times.”

“You can entertain without your ‘harmless’ pranks,” Kyungsoo snaps.

“Go back to your roots, Baekhyun.” Jongdae pats him on the shoulder comfortingly. “How about some good old comedy for a little bit.”

“Fine,” Baekhyun relents. “But it’ll be no fun at all.”

“Good,” Kyungsoo approves, finally satisfied. “The less fun the better.”

  


  


  


  


  


Much to Jongdae and Kyungsoo’s surprise, he does in fact lay low. He was legitimately sorry to Zitao, and as much as he hates to admit it, he  _ has _ been getting careless with his “harmless” pranks lately.

It’s safe to say that after four years, Baekhyun has made a name for himself within his high school. Everyone, freshman to senior, knew who he was. 80% of the school loved him, and the other 20%, in Baekhyun’s opinion, just didn’t know what it meant to have fun.

Baekhyun is the life of the party even when there is no party, and he makes it a point to make people laugh even on the worst of days. Baekhyun always prides himself in being able to bring out a laugh from even the saddest person. He’s always looking for ways to spread the happiness.

It's the last period of the day, and Baekhyun lingers at his locker, figuring out which books he needs to take home. He signed up for an extra free period at the end of last year, wanting to take his senior year easy, and it ended up scheduling to be the last class of the day. Sadly though, Baekhyun doesn’t have a car so he can’t leave early. Instead he spends most days loitering around school, much to the teachers’ disdain, while waiting for Kyungsoo to finish with his pastries class so he can get a ride home.  

After gathering his books, Baekhyun heads to the library to get some college essays drafted. On the way, he spots Zitao, and bounds up to him.

“Zitao,” Baekhyun approaches tentatively. “How are you?”

Zitao raises his eyebrows in response.

“Okay, bad question,” Baekhyun continues. “I just wanted to say sorry agai-”

“Baekhyun, you’ve said sorry 34 times in the last day,” Zitao sighs. “I know because I’ve counted and it’s starting to get annoying. I understand that it was a mistake, now leave me the fuck alone.”

“Noted. If there’s any way I can make it up to you though,” Baekhyun attempts.

“Seriously, there’s nothi-” Zitao pauses. “Fine you know what, since you are so eager, make it up to me through this.”

Zitao reaches into his backpack and grabs a piece of paper.

“I promised Sehun that I’d come help student council with setup for the Fall Formal, but I’m lazy and I don’t want to do it,” Zitao explains. “So you can make it up to me by going instead.”

“It says Saturday morning at 8 AM.” Baekhyun reads the flyer with a sense of dread. He normally doesn’t even get out of bed until at least 2 PM on Saturdays.

“Problem?” Zitao smirks.

“Nope,” Baekhyun gushes. “Not at all!”

“Great,” Zitao smiles. “Now can we go back to not talking to each other? Because you're really annoying and I honestly don't understand how your friends deal with you.”

“Of course!” Baekhyun ignores Zitao's insult and grins as wholeheartedly as he can. He's already lamenting the sleep he’s going to be losing this coming Saturday morning.

  


  


  


  


  


  


Baekhyun stands outside the double door entrance to his school gym, hoping that if he stares enough the giant building will turn into his warm and cozy bedroom so he can go back to sleep. He tries to rub the tired out of his eyes to no avail, and finally pushes open the door to an empty, half decorated basketball court.

“Hello?” Baekhyun calls out. “Anyone there?”

Baekhyun notices some movement in the corner of his eye.

“Oh, Baekhyun,” the student council president, Kim Junmyeon, stumbles out from behind a stack of boxes. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, um Zitao told Sehun that he would help out,” Baekhyun says as he looks around for everyone else. “But I kinda owe Zitao a favor, so I’m here instead.”

Junmyeon chuckles a bit.

“Oh yeah, I saw the video,” Junmyeon teases.

“It was a mistake!” Baekhyun exclaims, eyes wide.

“I know, Zitao told me about your never ending apologies,” Junmyeon frowns at a message on his phone.  “Apparently Sehun and Zitao played GTA till 4:00 am and crashed, so I doubt Sehun is actually going to make it today.”

“Um, is there anyone else that’s supposed to come in?” Baekhyun tries.

“Minseok and Luhan said they’d come around,” Junmyeon wonders.

“Minseok and Luhan don’t wake up before noon even on school days,” Baekhyun bemuses.

“Well, I guess it’s just us until then?”

Baekhyun’s mouth drops open.

“There’s literally nobody else? Underclassman? The art club?” Baekhyun prompts.

“The SATs are today, the first wave of college apps are due tomorrow. I try to avoid asking Kris for help with these kinds of things,” Junmyeon sighs. Kris was the Vice President of the Student Council and was known to be somewhat of an eccentric klutz. “I don’t know why we’re even having the formal this weekend, but Mr. Cho insisted.”

“Mr. Cho hates people,” Baekhyun points out. “Especially teenage people.”

“Mr. Cho is also the ultimate decision maker for anything Student Council does, so as much as that’s true, sadly we don’t have a choice.” Junmyeon waves his hands over to the corner of the gym.

“Anyways, Student Council already blew up the balloons and put together decorations yesterday after school. All we have to do is put them in the right places. It shouldn’t take too long if we work fast.”

“Well, let’s get started then,” Baekhyun declares. “If we finish quickly we can go home and nap.”

Although Baekhyun is comfortable with the other, it’s been a while since he’s spent much with Junmyeon. They’ve been going to school together since they were kids, but they ran in different social circles. Baekhyun stuck to theater and choir, while Junmyeon focused on Student Council and the school newspaper. Baekhyun honestly can’t remember the last time he’s had an actual conversation with Junmyeon.

It doesn’t help that Baekhyun might have had a momentary crush on Junmyeon during his freshman year. It was pretty hard not to, with Junmyeon quite literally being the standard for perfection: incredibly smart and good looking. He was basically the kid everyone's parents wish they had. Luckily in the end, Baekhyun managed to get over it pretty quickly and move on to someone else.

Junmyeon grabs his arm and leads him to the stacks of boxes containing the things they need to set up, pulling him back to reality. Baekhyun can feel the warmth of Junmyeon's hand against his wrist. His heart beats a tiny bit faster.

At least he  _ thought _ he’d gotten over the crush.

  


  


  


  


  


  


“No we’re pretty much done Luhan, you guys don’t have to come,” Junmyeon hums into his phone. “No it’s okay, there wasn’t much work to begin with. Baekhyun and I finished it.”

“Luhan, thanks a lot for bailing,” Baekhyun yells from behind Junmyeon.

Junmyeon laughs and Baekhyun can hear Luhan profusely apologizing on the other end of the line. Luhan says something that Baekhyun can’t quite make out, but it makes Junmyeon turn red and quickly shuffle away. From the looks of it, the student council president is arguing with Luhan about something. Baekhyun shrugs and turns around to finish hanging up the decorations in his hand.

They’ve been decorating for almost 3 hours now, and Baekhyun was adding the finishing touches. Perched carefully on a ladder, he continues to hang up string lights while Junmyeon talks to Luhan. A minute or so later, he finally tapes the last piece on the wall and decorating is officially complete. He lets out a little whoop and sees that Junmyeon is walking back towards him, having finished his phone call.

“Well, if I must say so myself,” Baekhyun chimes while climbing down the ladder. “This place looks fantastic. We did good.”

“Well,” Junmyeon corrects.

“Well what?” Baekhyun asks, confused.

“We did well, not good,” Junmyeon chuckles.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “I swear, you haven’t changed a bit since 5th grade, Mr. Top of the Class.”

“I could say the same about you, Baekhyun,” Junmyeon smiles with twinkling eyes. “I guess it’s time to head out. Are you coming tonight?”

“Yup, me and Jongdae are third and fourth wheeling with Kyungsoo and his date,” Baekhyun confirms.

“Kyungsoo has a date?” Junmyeon’s eyes go wide.

“Yeah, hard to believe right?” Baekhyun grins. “It’s some sophomore named Jongin, I think he’s friends with Sehun.”

“Oh yeah, Jongin is such a sweetheart,” Junmyeon recalls.

“Well Kyungsoo isn’t, so let’s hope he makes it out alive,” Baekhyun jokes as they head towards the exit.

“Do you need a ride?” Junmyeon asks.

“Nope, I drove somewhere by myself for once,” Baekhyun pulls out his keys and jingles them in his hand.

“Alright then, see you tonight hopefully!” Junmyeon exclaims and then turns to walk to his car.

  


“Yeah, same,” Baekhyun calls weakly, unwilling to admit that he might be hoping for it a lot more than Junmyeon is.

  


  


  


  


  


“Why are you fidgeting with your suit so much?” Jongdae asks with his eyebrows raised. “You look like a nervous freshman at their first dance.”

“I’m just slightly uncomfortable is all,” Baekhyun defends, eyes sweeping the gym as they walk in. With all the harsh overhead lights off, the decorations look amazing. The gym looks better than Baekhyun’s ever seen it, and he can’t help but feel a little proud that he had a part in making this happen.

“Wow you guys really did a good job,” Jongdae whistles. “I didn’t think you’d get anything done alone with Junmyeon.”

“What does that mean?” Baekhyun snaps.

“Please, don’t think I haven’t noticed your crush on him,” Jongdae wiggles his eyebrows. “I know you like to think that you ‘got over it’ freshman year but, honey, I’m no blind man.”

“I’m not your honey,” Baekhyun smirks, ignoring Jongdae. “Your honey is over there spiking the punch bowl, so you might want to go rescue him before he gets caught.”

The comment earns him a jab in the ribs, but Baekhyun doesn’t mind because Jongdae immediately walks away. Yixing was another senior that Jongdae has been flirting with for almost a year. The two obviously have feelings for each other, but never seem act on them because they’re both dense as hell.

With Jongdae occupied and Kyungsoo and Jongin doing god knows what in the corner of the gym, Baekhyun is free to let his eyes search through the crowd for the student council president. He has no other motives other than simply wanting to say hi and talk about how amazing the decorations look. Absolutely none.

He sweeps the gym a few times, failing to spot Junmyeon even once. The dance floor wasn’t too crowded yet, but people were constantly streaming through the entrance. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to find the other without incredible luck on his side. He walks towards the refreshments when he sees Luhan and Minseok talking next to the brownie platter.

“Why doesn’t Junmyeon just ask him out?” Baekhyun hears Minseok whine as he approaches them. The words make him freeze in place.

“I honestly don’t know, watching him pine like that and do nothing is getting so annoying,” Luhan matches Minseok’s tone. Baekhyun feels his heart drop at the thought of Junmyeon liking someone else.

“I’m pretty sure Baekhyun likes him back,” Minseok adds. “I caught him blatantly staring at our table during lunch two weeks ago. He didn’t even notice me looking at him because he was so focused.”

Baekhyun chokes on his saliva and starts coughing violently. Luhan and Minseok spin around and their eyes go wide as they watch Baekhyun double over.

“Baekhyun!” Luhan exclaims. He walks over and pounds him on the back, relieving the cough a little. “Are you okay?”

Baekhyun nods, cough subsiding a bit. As soon as he’s able to speak the first thing that comes out is, “Junmyeon likes me?”

The other two are speechless, but Baekhyun starts to grin.

“Baekhyun,” Minseok starts in a warning tone. “I know what that look means.”

“Don’t do it, Baekhyun,” Luhan joins. “I don’t even know what you’re thinking, but don’t do it.”

“It’s okay,” Baekhyun reassures. “There’s nothing wrong with some harmless scheming. I won’t do anything you wouldn’t do.”

“Is that supposed to reassure me?” Luhan asks skeptically.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes, “Don’t worry guys, I’ve got this under control. If things go to plan, Junmyeon and I will be a couple in two weeks flat.”

“Your ideas never go to plan, Baekhyun. That’s why we never let you have ideas,” Minseok hisses. “They all suck.”

“Just wait and see guys, it’ll all work out.”

  


  


  


  


  


“This isn’t going to work out,” Kyungsoo states as the three of them sit in Baekhyun’s room the next afternoon.

“Why not?” Baekhyun asks.

“Because he’s going to get confused and hate you?” The amount of judgment on Kyungsoo's face was almost frightening.

“You would hate it, but Junmyeon wouldn’t!” Baekhyun attempts.

“Baekhyun this isn’t even a plan of action,” Jongdae points out. “You’re just stalking him.”

“It’s not stalking!” Baekhyun continues to defend his idea. “I’ll just occasionally show up to the same places he’s at. He’ll be around me so much that he’ll end up confessing his feelings.”

“Or he’ll feel threatened and call the cops on you,” Jongdae intones.

“It’s Junmyeon, of course he wouldn’t,” Baekhyun reassures.

“I hate you and you have dumb ideas,” Kyungsoo gets up to grab some lunch from the kitchen. “I hope you know that.”

“I’m well aware, thank you very much,” Baekhyun replies, unfazed. “Anyways, let’s start with step one.”

“Kill me now,” Jongdae cries, pulling the covers over his head.

It’s going to be a long afternoon.

  


  


  


  


  


Baekhyun grabs a shovel and makes a beeline for the spot next to Junmyeon.

“Hey!” Baekhyun exclaims walking up to the student council president.

“Oh,” Junmyeon blurts.  _ Oh? That’s it? _ Baekhyun thinks silently.

“It’s getting chilly out, isn’t it?” Baekhyun tries again.

“Um, yeah it is.” Junmyeon attempts before pausing again and tilting his head to the side in confusion. “What are you doing here Baekhyun?”

“Oh, you know,” Baekhyun fumbles. “It’s never a bad time to help out the community. Tree planting sounded like fun so I thought I’d try it out!”

“Huh,” Junmyeon hums, turning back to the hole he’s been digging in the ground. “I swear Jongdae told me that you two were going to play video games all night because neither of you had homework.”

“Sudden plans,” Baekhyun covers. “With Yixing. You know how those two are.”

Junmyeon laughs and Baekhyun internally sighs in relief. Crisis averted, at least temporarily.

“So how was the dance? I didn’t end up running into you after all,” Baekhyun changes the topic of conversation.

“Busy,” the other grimaces. “I was working out the logistics the entire time because Chanyeol forgot to call the caterers about our plan changes.”

“Oh no,” Baekhyun sympathizes.

“What about you?”

“In between third wheeling with Kyungsoo and Jongin, third wheeling with Luhan and Minseok and third wheeling with Jongdae and Yixing,” Baekhyun begins. “Well, I tried my best.”

“It’s too bad, we could have hung out if we ran into each other,” Junmyeon sighs. “Everyone I know is part of some kind of couple another.”

“Well, we can always hang out another time!” Baekhyun throws out, holding his breath in nervousness.

“Yeah, that would be nice,” Junmyeon grins. The twinkle in his eye is back and Baekhyun can’t get enough of it.

“Now, let’s get to work,” Junmyeon continues. “We have lots of trees to plant.”

Baekhyun nods and works alongside Junmyeon in a comfortable silence. His arms start to get sore, but he barely notices. Spending time in Junmyeon’s company is more than enough to keep him happy as can be.

  


  


  


  


  


“Baekhyun?” Junmyeon looks up from his computer. “What brings you here?”

Junmyeon looks just as confused as he was the other day. Honestly, Baekhyun doesn’t blame him. He doesn’t tend to frequent this area of school, and today was the first time Baekhyun has ever set foot in the infamous newsroom in his four years of high school.

There were individual computer desks set up for writers, and tables of equipment including everything from high resolution photo printers to high definition cameras lining the walls. Baekhyun looks around in wonder, wishing he had known about it earlier. Jongdae had always asked him to join him for study sessions in the newsroom, and Baekhyun always passed up on the offers. He liked to study in the library instead. For someone like Baekhyun who could never keep his mouth shut, he’d always figured the library was the only place to keep him in check and focused.

“Jongdae wanted me to drop this off,” Baekhyun holds up a manilla folder containing one of Jongdae’s pieces for the paper. The minute his best friend said that he would be making a trip to the newsroom, Baekhyun jumped at the chance to go himself, in hopes that Junmyeon was around.

Thankfully he was, in fact, around. More thankfully, however, he was  _ alone _ .

“Oh, right,” Junmyeon mentions, looking around for the proper place to put the file. Junmyeon walks over and plucks the file out of his hands and places it in a file organizer on one of the tables.

“Where is he? Is everything okay with him?” Junmyeon inquires, concerned.

“Oh yeah, everything's fine. Everything's absolutely okay.” Baekhyun thinks on his feet. “Jongdae just had to go feed his cat.”

“Jongdae has a cat?” Junmyeon’s eyebrows furrow. Fuck. Jongdae doesn’t have a cat.

“He’s, uh, taking care of his cousin’s cat,” Baekhyun lies. “His cousins are out of town so they left the cat with Jongdae’s family.”

“Weird, he hasn’t said anything about it. I thought he was really allergic to them too,” Junmyeon wonders.

“Yeah, uh, his allergies got better I think,” Baekhyun adds vaguely in order to avoid getting himself stuck in a web. He takes a seat in the chair across from Junmyeon’s desk. “So how’s your day been? This place is amazing, by the way.”

“You’ve never been inside?” Junmyeon’s eyes go wide. Baekhyun shrugs sheepishly. “I assumed that you would have at least once. Jongdae’s been on the paper longer than I have.”

“Odd, huh?” Baekhyun chuckles. “I might start coming around more, now that I know that it has so much to offer.

Baekhyun looks at the class president meaningfully. He thinks he can see Junmyeon’s cheeks turn a light pink, but it might be the trick of light.

“You should, it’s nice to have company when nobody’s around,” Junmyeon replies. His stomach flutters a little at the thought.

“Would you mind if I pulled out work to do?” Baekhyun tries. “We can work in each other’s company.”

“No, not at all,” Junmyeon smiles wide. “That sounds perfect actually.”

  


  


  


  


  


“Junmyeon!” Baekhyun exclaims, coming up beside the other and making him jump with surprise.

“Baekhyun! You scared me. What are you doing here?” Junmyeon says with a hand over his chest, trying to calm himself down. He chuckles a bit. “I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot lately.”

“My mom has been pestering me to learn how to cook, so I thought I’d take the class that Kyungsoo was helping with,” Baekhyun explains using his pre-prepared excuse. He tries to sound as natural as possible. It isn’t completely untrue even, because his mom actually  _ has _ been asking him to learn how to cook for months now. Junmyeon being there is just an extra bonus. “I had no idea that you’re in the same class! At least now I have someone to talk to. I’ve been dreading this.”

From across the room, Baekhyun can feel Kyungsoo staring him down with anger. He drops his voice to a whisper.

“So what are we doing right now?” Baekhyun breathes, mouth close to Junmyeon’s ear. “I’m already lost.”

Baekhyun can feel Junmyeon still beside him.

“Fruit pies,” Junmyeon laughs under his breath, maintaining composure. “I’m not sure how useful that would be to your mom.”

“She’s be happy if all I learned was how to make ramen without burning the kitchen down.”

The instructor continues to give out instructions at the front of the room, but Baekhyun isn’t really paying attention. Instead, he chooses to watch Junmyeon execute whatever they’re being told to do with incredible focus. Junmyeon’s lips are molded into a frown as he kneads the pie crust dough. The little pout on his face is making Baekhyun think thoughts that are not at all appropriate for cooking class.

Junmyeon looks up and catches Baekhyun staring. Junmyeon’s lips quirk up a bit causing Baekhyun to think that he might not be the only one playing this game anymore.

“Do you need any help?” Junmyeon startles Baekhyun out of his trance.

“No, I got it!” Baekhyun fumbles, trying to remember the instructions so he can quickly catch up.

“Are you sure?” Junmyeon quirks. “Because you’re supposed to be using butter in that, not oil.”

Baekhyun looks at the spoon in his hand apprehensively. It hasn’t even been five minutes and he’s already fucking up.

“Don’t worry, you haven’t gotten very far anyways. Start over and I can help you out this time.” Junmyeon offers with a wink.

Baekhyun’s heart explodes in his chest. If he had known that cooking could be this fun, he would have started a long time ago.

  


  


  


  


  


Baekhyun shuffles out of the cooking class with his head lowered and pride stomped into the ground.

“Hey, don’t look so down,” Junmyeon pats him on the shoulder. “It wasn’t  _ that  _ bad.”

“Junmyeon, my pie burst into flames after I took it out of the oven. They had to use the fire extinguisher on it. How is that not  _ that _ bad?” Baekhyun flails.

“I’m sure there have been worse,” Junmyeon shrugs. “Don’t sweat it, maybe baking just isn’t your thing.”

Baekhyun sighs and catches sight of the pie tin that Junmyeon is carrying to his car. “Of course you would say that, your pie looks delicious.”

He can smell the apple pie and his mouth waters a little.

“Would you like a slice?” Junmyeon invites. “I’m taking it home, but you could probably come and eat some if you’d like. It’s past dinner so my family wouldn’t mind.”

“Sure,” Baekhyun jumps at the chance. “That sounds awesome.”

“Follow my car?”

“Yes sir,” Baekhyun salutes, making Junmyeon laugh yet again.

Baekhyun ends up on the plush carpeted floor of Junmyeon’s basement while the latter fiddles with wires to set up Mario Kart.

“This pie is  _ heavenly _ ,” Baekhyun mumbles with his mouth full.

“Chew with your mouth closed,” Junmyeon playfully complains. Baekhyun turns a light shade of pink.

“But, really, it’s so good,” Baekhyun says, this time after swallowing. Junmyeon hands him a controller.

“This should work,” Junmyeon hums. “Gosh, I haven’t played in so long don’t go too hard on me.”

“You wish,” Baekhyun grins. He considered himself to be a self proclaimed Mario Kart king, much to the disagreement of Kyungsoo and Jongdae. “Get ready to be destroyed.”

Time flies by with them joking around and shoving each other off the couch whenever the other wins. Junmyeon was definitely lying when he said that he wasn’t good because Baekhyun was losing more than he expected to. Without even realizing it, Baekhyun ends up pressed closely against Junmyeon’s side, making the cold basement feel like it was one hundred degrees hotter than it really was.

Baekhyun’s phone rings sometime later, and he picks up up after Junmyeon pauses the game. It’s his mother, calling to see if he had any plans of coming home that night. Baekhyun glances at the time and shoots up, almost falling off the couch. It was already 12:30.

“I’ll be home soon Mom, sorry,” Baekhyun says frantically into the phone. “I was just playing video games at Junmyeon’s house and completely lost track of time.”

Baekhyun quickly hangs up walks towards the stairs. Junmyeon follows suit.

“I didn’t even realize,” Junmyeon remarks. “I hope your mom isn’t too mad.”

“No, she’s probably not. She normally doesn’t mind me staying out,” Baekhyun reassures. “Especially when I’m so close to home.”

“Good, I didn’t want you to get banned from my house,” Junmyeon pauses. “We should do this again sometime, I had fun.”

“Yeah, me too,” Baekhyun agrees while slipping into his shoes at the front door. Junmyeon unlocks it and opens it to let Baekhyun out.

“Bye then,” Junmyeon says pulling him into a half hug with his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“See you tomorrow at school,” Baekhyun replies. Junmyeon hand is still lingering on him and he doesn’t want to lose the warmth. Baekhyun meets Junmyeon’s eyes momentarily and holds them for a few seconds. His phone pings with a text alert, breaking the moment. Baekhyun checks to see another text from his mother. “I really should go.”

Baekhyun slips out of the house without another word and walks to his car. While he drives away, he can’t help but feel a little disappointed that him hanging out at the student body president’s house for hours didn’t help his situation.

He sighs and realizes that he needs to go further. It was finally time for step two of the master plan.

  


  


  


  


  


“Literally, step two is the same thing as step one but you’re stalking him  _ more _ ” Jongdae sighs. “I think this is my cue to give up hopes of you ever evolving into a normal human being.”

“It’s not stalking. It’s just being around him more,” Baekhyun defends.

“Luhan’s soccer game? Baekhyun you avoid sporting events like they are the plague, and everyone in this school knows it,” Jongdae points out with exasperation.

“Junmyeon, on the other hand, goes to all of them! I am willing to change my ways in order to streamline the process of us getting together,” Baekhyun argues. “The thought that we could be making out already is physically painful for me to consider.”

“The thought of you and Junmyeon making out ever is physically painful for me to consider, so never speak of it again please and thank you,” Jongdae grumbles. “What other awful ideas do you have?”

“Well, you’re about to see,” Baekhyun says as they enter the cafeteria.

“No,” Jongdae’s eyes go wide. “You aren’t dragging me into this.”

“Too late. And don’t worry, your honey can keep you company.”

Before Jongdae can even understand what’s going on, Baekhyun leads them to the table that Minseok, Luhan, Yixing and Junmyeon are sitting at and takes a seat right next to the object of his affections. Jongdae glares at Baekhyun before dropping down next to Yixing.

“What about Kyungsoo?” Jongdae whispers after Baekhyun greets everyone at the table. Although it was out of the ordinary, nobody makes a big deal out of it given that they were pretty much all friends already.

“I’m pretty sure Kyungsoo isn’t going to make it to lunch today based on the position I saw him in before we started walking here,” Baekhyun smirks. “Jongin was attacking his face next to the water fountain, and I’m really hoping they don’t bring that show to the lunch room.”

“They’re such a cute couple,” Yixing giggles. “Like two cute little pink bunnies.”

“They do go at it like rabbits, so I guess that’s oddly fitting,” Baekhyun notes. Yixing has said weirder things before, and over the years most people have just learned to go with it. Luhan and Junmyeon groan.

“I’m never going to be able to erase that image from my head, Baekhyun,” Luhan glowers. “I hate you.”

“You all are very welcome,” Baekhyun grins and Junmyeon shoves him playfully, smiling a little more brightly than he was before Baekhyun got here.

Baekhyun has to admit, it feels pretty damn good.

  


  


  


  


  


Baekhyun sighs heavily as he walks towards the newsroom. The school is pretty much empty, with only a few people hanging around here and there. It has been a full two weeks since Baekhyun’s plan had gone into action, and it feels like he hasn’t made any progress at all. Of course, he had gotten incredibly close to Junmyeon, but he had no idea how to take their relationship from ‘good friends’ to ‘boyfriends that make out, like, all the time.

"Hey Junmyeon," Baekhyun greets as he walks over to the side table and sets Jongdae’s file in the proper pile. After he began crashing the newsroom on the regular, he’s become pretty familiar with where everything belongs.

“Jongdae’s piece?” Junmyeon asks, not looking up from whatever he was writing on his computer. “What is it this time? Was he eaten by a bear?”

“Huh?” Baekhyun freezes.

Junmyeon finally looks up and laughs a little, eyes twinkling.

“Baekhyun, I know that Jongdae doesn’t have a cat. Or a part time job at the YMCA. He’s also not taking an html class to learn how to build a website to sell his homemade plushies on. Jongdae doesn't even make homemade plushies, how the hell did you come up with that one?” Junmyeon sighs.

“What?” Baekhyun frowns. “It’s, uh, totally true. I can bring proof!”

Baekhyun thinks fast and wonders what he can come up with to cover up his lies.

“Baekhyun,” Junmyeon rolls his eyes. “I’m our class valedictorian, yet you have a surprisingly low expectations of my intelligence.”

“Fine,” Baekhyun huffs. “I lied.”

“I know. You’ve been lying about everything for the past two weeks,” Junmyeon remarks. “But I just waited because I figured that it was just one of your jokes. The more I look, however, the more it seems like you have no clue of what you’re doing.”

“Waited?” Baekhyun asks. “For what?”

“For you to ask me out, you dumbass.”

“Oh.” Baekhyun pauses for a moment and realization dawns upon him. “You mean you knew the entire time?”

“Well,” Junmyeon starts tentatively. “I figured it out after a few days? It was rather obvious.”

“You could have helped me!” Baekhyun groans. “I was running out of ideas.”

“What ideas? All you did was follow me everywhere I went,” Junmyeon laughs.

Baekhyun smiles wide, leaning back into his chair. “So, are we, like, a thing now?” Baekhyun wonders.

“Pick me up Friday night at 7 and we’ll see.”

“Yes sir,” Baekhyun mock salutes.

“Now get to work or get out, this AP lit essay is due tomorrow and I just started it,” Junmyeon orders sternly. Baekhyun feels the other’s legs twist around his as he’s taking out his books. Their eyes meet and they exchange smiles.

Baekhyun pulls out his phone and shoots off a quick text message to Jongdae.

_ BBH: Guess who has a boyfriend? _

_ KJD: Took you long enough. Junmyeon got tired of your dumb stalking didn’t he? _

_ DKS: Does this mean we can stop talking about your stupid plans? _

_ BBH: Can’t even be happy for your best friend, huh? _

_ KJD: Just don’t make out with him when I’m in the room. Kyungsoo and Jongin are doing it right now and I want to wash my eyes out with bleach. _

_ DKS: He's lying _

_ KJD: I'm really not he's literally texting and kissing at the same time. Pick one my friend. Preferably the texting. _

_ BBH: Good luck with that ^.^ _

_ KJD: Fuck you too. Have fun with Junmyeon. _

Baekhyun rolls his eyes and gets to work, ignoring Jongdae’s words in favor enjoying the feeling of Junmyeon’s legs entwined with his own.

  


  


  


  


  


“He took you to the bowling alley on half price night?” Kyungsoo quirks. “Junmyeon, you can do so much better than that.”

“I’m broke. Can’t do much about it,” Baekhyun defends.

“I had fun,” Junmyeon smiles. “It was nice.”

“I’m pretty sure you had more fun making out on your front step after he walked you home,” Luhan grumbles. “Which I as your neighbor had the pleasure of seeing, by the way. Next time please take it inside.”

“It’s a free country, take your eyes somewhere else,” Baekhyun advises. “Because it’ll be happening a lot more from now on.”

“You disgust me,” Jongdae pipes from the other end of the table where he’s sitting next to Yixing.

“After what I walked in on in the newsroom the other day with you two, I don’t think you have the right to say that,” Baekhyun wiggles his eyebrows. “It was rather, what’s the correct word, compromising shall I say?”

Jongdae’s face turns red.

“You two are finally together?” Minseok exclaims.

“We have been for a while now,” Yixing mentions offhandedly eyeing Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. “We just save the PDA for behind closed doors. Unlike some of us.”

“Closed doors that should stay closed,” Baekhyun shudders. “And locked twice for extra safety.”

Jongdae rolls his eyes and goes back to his conversation with Yixing.

Baekhyun turns to look at Junmyeon and reaches under the table for the other’s hand. Their fingers entwine and Baekhyun’s head falls on Junmyeon’s shoulder.

“Wanna come over to study tonight? I have to finish 3 college essays,” Junmyeon offers.

“Me too,” Baekhyun sighs. “We can finish early and then play Mario Kart in your basement.”

“Mario Kart?” Junmyeon inquires with his eyebrows raised.

“And maybe other stuff.”

“I vote other stuff,” Junmyeon whispers.

Baekhyun can’t say he disagrees.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, comment and share! <3


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